'We reaffirm our son's innocence': Player's family call for release

The parents of Hakeem al-Araibi have released an emotional statement calling for the immediate release of their son from a Thai prison, where they say he has been "treated unjustly and in an undignified manner" for more than two months.

The detailed statement, released on Friday by the soccer player's family from Bahrain, demanded the Thai government release Araibi immediately and called for international human rights bodies to increase pressure to free him.

Hakeem Al-Araibi appeared in a Thai court in shackles this week.Credit:AP

"As if the pain and bitterness of separation, the longing, worries and fears over the fate of our children, who are abroad, are not enough, we find ourselves faced with the arrest of our child by governments of countries that are supposed to respect human rights," the family said.

"The fact that our son, Hakeem, spent more than two months in Thai prisons being treated unjustly and in an undignified manner, which included him being transported to court shackled and barefoot, is a crime committed by the government of Thailand against human rights and a crime against the sports community as a whole."

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The family also expressed fear that Araibi would be killed if he was to return to Bahrain.

It comes as the diplomatic stoush between Canberra and Bangkok over Araibi escalated on Thursday, with the Australian government declaring it did not issue the Red Notice for the footballer's arrest.

The strongly-worded statement from the Australian embassy in Bangkok comes a day after the Thai Foreign Ministry suggested it had "received the Red Notice alert from the Australian Interpol".

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already written twice to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, asking him to intervene and free Araibi. Meanwhile, an international campaign for Araibi's release – involving FIFA, high profile soccer players including former Socceroos Craig Foster and Francis Awaritefe, and diplomatic pressure – is gathering pace.

The 25-year-old soccer player, who has been granted refugee status by Australia, was detained in Bangkok on November 27 when he arrived for a one-week honeymoon with his wife.

He remains in detention in the Bangkok Remand Prison and is fighting a formal extradition request from Bahrain, where he was born, because he fears he will be tortured and returned to jail to serve time for vandalising a police station in 2012, a crime he argues he did not commit.

Araibi was playing in a soccer game that was broadcast on television and which finished about 30 minutes before the alleged crime took place.

His family on Friday said they had submitted evidence to the High Court that Araibi played in the 2012 soccer game.

"We, the Araibi family, reaffirm our son’s innocence based on clear and irrefutable evidence. Our son is being accused of a crime that occurred while he was playing in a nationally televised game in [Bahrain’s] domestic league at the Muharraq stadium," they said.

Since fleeing Bahrain in 2014, Araibi has lived in Melbourne and plays soccer for Pascoe Vale.

Craig Foster (right) has been tireless in his bid to have Hakeem al-Araibi returned to Australia.Credit:Kate Geraghty

His family said his life was "centred on his passion for sports, especially football".

"We demand that the Thai Government take an objective look at his case and release him immediately. We, the family, hold it [the Thai Government] responsible for our son's psychological and physical wellbeing," they said.

"We also reiterate our fear for his life if he is returned to Bahrain where he has been subjected to torture and ill-treatment despite not having committed any offence. We appeal to the international human rights community to increase pressure on the Thai authorities and to stand by us in defending Hakeem to save him."

They thanked their son's supporters, in particular Foster for his work in bringing attention to the case, as well as Pascoe Vale FC.

"You have proven to all of us that it is still possible to rely on someone in this world to overcome injustice and achieve justice. Thank you from us and from Hakeem."

James Massola is south-east Asia correspondent based in Jakarta. He was previously chief political correspondent, based in Canberra. He has been a Walkley and Quills finalist on three occasions, won a Kennedy Award for outstanding foreign correspondent and is the author of The Great Cave Rescue.